Appeals

"Clarify the County's appeal process."

The Board of Supervisors approved revisions to the County's appeal procedures to encourage interested parties to be involved in the process prior to filing an appeal, to clearly state the grounds for an appeal, and in some cases to have appeals occur earlier in the process before the applicant has spent a lot of time and money on the final plans.  These changes include: Appeal of Board of Architectural Review Preliminary Approval – Previously, the only Board of Architectural Review (BAR) decision that could be appealed was the final approval.  This approval occurs after the applicant has spent a great deal of time and expense in preparing detailed “working drawings.”  The ordinance was changed to allow appeals of BAR preliminary decisions before the working drawings are prepared.  Appeal of final BAR decisions may still occur although appeals are limited to instances where the final plans are not in substantial conformance with the approved preliminary plans. Who Can Appeal? - Appellant must be an “aggrieved person” or any person who, in person or through a representative, appeared at a public hearing in connection with the decision or action appealed, or who, by other appropriate means prior to a hearing or decision (e.g., testifying at a hearing or writing, emailing or faxing a concern to the staff and hearing body), informed the decision-maker of the nature of his concerns or who for good cause was unable to do either.

We welcome your questions and comments on this site.

Created by the County of Santa Barbara for the benefit of its citizens and inhabitants.